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Monday, January 31, 2005
Siegel and Shuster's Greatest Work
Ever had one of those days where you had a lot of ideas going on in your brain but you just can't type them out? That's what I've got now. So let's just laugh at some old-timey comics.
From Detective Comics #16. Script by Jerry Siegel and art by Joe Shuster.
I should note that there are some snarky write-ups of Golden Age Slam Bradley comics (complete with graphics) here and here.
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Sunday, January 30, 2005
Happy Birthday Hembeck!
Fred Hembeck is 52 today. Not only do I love reading his little cartoons in the back of old Flash comics (only a genius can team up Human Target and Green Arrow) but he's a cartoonist and an industry vet whose really cozy with us comic bloggers. I think that's really cool. Here's to many more!
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Saturday, January 29, 2005
Brother Lex Luthor
For no reason other than I've been watching Carnivale and Superman: The Animated Series on DVD I'm going to point you to the Clancy Brown Fan Club Blog. I had no idea such a thing would exist, Brown's a great actor but not well known. I think a blog devoted to him (part of the official fan club) is pretty cool.
Of course, Brown isn't the only actor on Carnivale who has done a voice for one of the "Timmiverse" DC cartoons. Adrienne Barbeau was great as Catwoman. Unfortunately I have not found an Adrienne Barbeau-blog.
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Friday, January 28, 2005
More on WE3
As expected, reading other’s reactions and interpretations to WE3 has proven to be an enriching experience. Jog’s review was great but it was Rose’s comments under it that got me thinking. WE3 is Grant Morrison’s most explicitly political book since he tackled the issues of animal rights and South Africa apartheid in the pages of Animal Man. Most of his works have had some political elements to them but this is his first book in a while where the relation to the story and what’s making the newspapers is greatly apparent.
The homeless man who becomes 1 and 2’s caretaker by the end might very well be, like many homeless persons, a veteran. In that case the final image of the book gives us a look at three beings that have been chewed up and spit out by the military-industrial complex (perhaps four if you count Dr. Trendle, on his way to what seems to be a senate investigation on the matter). In this WE3 proves itself to be the perfect antidote to a world where the emptiest of empty slogans, “Support Our Troops,” appears on the bumper of cars riding on every American highway. The fact is that the Bush administration has treated the troops told to fight their wars with little to no support at all. They have to pay for their own meals, the armor they get is insufficient protection and just when they’re told they’ve served their duty to the fullest they’re called back up to war. When a soldier does question this before Sec. Rumsfeld all he can get is some patronizing rhetoric. The animals of WE3 are meant to replace human soldiers and with that Morrison seems to be pointing out that the military sees their grunts as beasts already. Any behavior that shows some independence or want of freedom, never mind that’s what you’re supposedly fighting for, is discouraged, be that question the Secretary of Defense or escaping for home. The heartbreaking covers for the comics are a reminder that these animals aren’t just cannon fodder; they’re beloved members of families. One would wish the Bush Administration would think of the families of our soldiers when they’re deciding how much to spend on the equipment and vehicles for our troops abroad.
I feel WE3 can also be applied to something else concerning this country’s “hard diplomacy.” This weekend Iraqis are getting the chance to participate in what is the closest thing they’ve had to a legitimate election in a long time. It is to wonder what happens if in this election or others, if there are others, the Iraqi people vote in a government that is more likely to side with a country like Iran than the United States. Has Bush’s quest then been a failure? Why should we be certain that since we gave Iraq something resembling a democracy (although nothing resembling safety, which would seem like a better place to start) that they would mirror any and all out thoughts on foreign relations? As Morrison points out, you can tinker with elements of nature all you want, be it human or animal, but any expectations all that tinkering will lead to control will be in vain. A larger idea that WE3 goes over is that in this world we are all part of a plan, be it God’s or destiny’s or nature’s or whatever you want to call it, and attempts to sway that plan to your advantage will place yourself in position for severe punishment. We must instead find the “home” that is the companionship of the other living creatures who are part of this plan (namely all living creatures). That’s what “home” is, not governments or states with their own interests.
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Thursday, January 27, 2005
WE3
Spoilers within, folks.
Yesterday marked the publication of the final issue of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s excellent mini-series WE3. It’s one of the best things Morrison has done and so far and the best book Frank Quietly has done (I praise his artwork here). I feel it’s certainly worth taking a look at.
WE3 touches on some of the same points Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, that tale of the Modern Prometheus. In Shelly’s book a lone scientist encroaches on Mother Nature’s sole ability to create life (and in human terms the female’s lone ability to give birth to other humans). Frankenstein’s hubris ended up bearing tragic conclusions for both his creation and himself. The cycle of nature that both creates and destroys (and then creates again and destroys again) all of us is an awesome display of Earth’s beauty. To co-opt it for far pettier concerns like scientific renown is a perversity of which no good can come out of it. In WE3 the Unites States Government decides to co-opt nature to create better and more efficient killing machines. Extrapolate this with our knowledge of the Unites States history (and present!) of warfare and we can see they are turning animals into tools for remaking the world in their image. In the process they have given three animals more power to follow the primal instincts they have always followed. The schism created between the purity of animals’ wanting to find comfort and the plans the U.S. has for them creates the drama for WE3.
The three’s quest for home is part of their nature but it is also something that Morrison questions in the series. The final page of the first issue has 2 stating “WE3 NO HOME NOW” and in the second says “2 SAY IS NO HOME.” The beginning and end of the final issue has the three (two by the end of the book) being taken care of by a homeless man. The final issue also has a sequence with the surviving two finding brief solace in a suburban house under construction. I feel that Morrison is saying that when an animal like 1 is desiring something like “home” it doesn’t mean a dwelling, although that can definitely be a part of it. What home could be is something that also comes up in WE3, a strong sense of comradery.
The three “weapons of mass destruction” of the book are not of the same species, although perhaps they are after the government has their way with them. Either way they have a bond between them that comes from their primal instincts. One of the most powerful moments of the series is 1’s reaction to 3’s slaughter by 4 (God bless Grant Morrison for making it able for me to write that sentence). 1 also displays tremendous compassion, especially considering the plans for him from his creators. He tries to save a life of a human in the second issue, but the person is already dead. In the third issue he spares a police offer from being 4’s next victim. A true testament to the government’s failure of their plans for these creatures is not in the instances of destruction but in the instances listed above. A defining moment for WE3 is when 2 finally does admit they are home. It is when she brings her friend 1 food, nourishment after stressful times. “Just love and attention” the homeless says in the book’s final scene.
This is just one interpretation into this book. There can be many and I look forward to reading all of them.
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Tuesday, January 25, 2005
I’m Mr. Brightside
Unlike most of my cartooning peers…I was a bit of a social butterfly who went out every night, and even had girlfriends! I still debate in my mind whether I was better or worse off for this in the long run.
-Peter Bagge
In his quick review of Spider-Man/Human Torch #1, Dorian explains his aversion to the character Spider-Man because “[h]e's a whiny neurotic and I really have no interest in reading about his pity parties.” In the comments section Isaac B2 points out that the neurosis Spidey goes through (and through and through and…) is the major appeal of the character. This makes me wonder about why comics seem to be filled with the likes of the neurotic and the low-self esteem sufferers.
Dorian has a point in his criticism. Why should anyone have to read about Peter Parker’s worries and anxieties? It can and often does come off as irritating when you’re reading about someone who can not get over their problems but certainly has no problem sharing them with everybody else. If that alone doesn’t display a lack of maturity than the refusal to get over those problems certainly does. After all, it is pretty narcissistic to go over your own problems, really your own self, over and over again.
When it comes to some of the major autobiographical cartoonists this is a phenomenon that gets even bigger. Robert Crumb is perhaps ground zero when it comes to illustrating oneself as the neurotic type in autobio comics as well as having that personality influence a cartoonist’s non-autobio work. It’s a tradition carried on by cartoonists like Chester Brown, Joe Matt, Ivan Brunetti (the first two issues of Schizo are particularly extreme examples), Evan Dorkin (in the fantastic Dork #7), Jeffery Brown and Chris Ware whose Jimmy Corrigan uses those themes and instills them into three generations of the Corrigan family to create one of the greatest works in the field of comics.
The fact that this is something that is all too present in comics just makes it more of a turn-off for people. Yet for others, although perhaps not as many, it is one thing that keeps bringing them back. I can count myself as one of the latter. I find that when reading Schizo #2 or Jimmy Corrigan I’m not thinking about how grating the mannerisms displayed are but instead I’m saying “I can relate” in my head. That is probably one the biggest reasons to go for this kind of content, be it in a Peanuts strip or low-run independent book. Art feels more satisfying when a person can relate to it easily. For many people having a comic (or movie or TV show or novel) starring a “sad sack” type makes it instantly relatable. There’s a certain comfort to be found when reading about those with the same problems you have and seeing how they do or don’t deal with them. Not to mention it gives that reader a chance to ponder his or her own hang-ups once again, an inviting prospect if there ever was one.
Ultimately, just because a comic features this type of character as its protagonist does not make it interesting on its own. On the other hand it is unfair to reject a comic just because it features this type of content. It is how that comic shows us that character, and the characters around him or her, that matters. The neurotic type is a fantastic creature to use in drama. To them, even the smallest events mean something (specifically something to worry about) and the big things in life are even bigger. There are many insights one can make into humanity with that situations, not to mention the comedic possibilities. Of course it is just as likely the comic ends up being a chore to read because its author doesn’t feel it necessary to say anything with the character. In fact two different readers might come away from the same comic having reached both those conclusions respectively. Therein lays one of the most beautiful things about the arts.
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Sunday, January 23, 2005
Will help indeed...
From New Teen Titans #17. Script by Marv Wolfman, artwork by George Perez.
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Friday, January 21, 2005
Ryan Strikes Again!
I just want to alert you good folks that the news section of Johnny Ryan's page says that Angry Youth Comics #8 is coming out in a few weeks. To me, Ryan is one of the funniest cartoonists out there. His work takes a real joy in being absolutely obnoxious. If you like humor that will stop at nothing to bring out a big belly laugh I say take a gander. You'll probably have to go to the "adult" section of your store but it's worth it.
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Thursday, January 20, 2005
Quick Question
I've seen this image ever since I bought that Sonic Youth greatest hits CD Screaming Fields of Sonic Love. Yet I wonder, what comic does this panel come from? I want to guess some issue of New Mutants because it seems like something The Mont would come up with. I have no idea if that's right, though.
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Wednesday, January 19, 2005
There's more of them than there are of us
The theme for this week seems to be driven by Monday's article. Don't worry, this isn't another long essay, it's just a quick point.
You know how Mike has written about people unfamiliar with major superheroes save their name, costume and some of their powers (if that)? That's who DC and Marvel have to target with their books. The best of the "adventures" books have proven it's possible (Batman Adventures, Superman Adventures) and it looks like All-Star Superman could do the trick. More of these kinds of books wouldn't be a bad idea either. Granted a huge part of that problem comes from the availability of books. A comic can be chock full of fun, continuity-free, done-in-one goodness but won't mean anything if non-comic readers can't get their hands on it. That's a whole different problem and one that's been tackled by greater minds than mine.
There's a whole lot of people out there who think Superman is cool enough to be a sticker on their car or a t-shirt to wear but are hardly experts on the subject. Lord knows they've probably bought worse crap (a glance at the Billboard charts will prove that) so this certainly isn't an impossible task.
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Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Getting the Word Out
I have seen my essay from yesterday being linked alongside this Paul O’Brien article so I decided to take a look at it (and thank you to all of those who did link to that essay I wrote).
O’Brien writes how critical acclaim does not usually help a title struggling in the Direct Market like Fallen Angel because that acclaim does not get to the fans who have pull lists and make up a lot of the audience Marvel and DC try to reach. O’Brien makes it look like there two different worlds when it comes to consumers in the Direct Market. There are those who are always going to go for all the X-Men, Green Lantern or Batman books because they feel they need all those books for their collection. On the other side there are those who try out books like Hard Time and Plastic Man and champion them on their blogs, website columns or wherever. The important thing about O’Brien’s observation is that there is no communication between those two worlds. The books pundits celebrate still get no rise in sales because it feels like nobody is listening to them.
Of course it’s not true that nobody is listening to us. Perhaps the best way to put it is that not enough comic fans are paying attention to us pundits, certainly us bloggers. I run the danger of sounding too inflated about this little group I belong to, but I would like bloggers to have more sway in the comics industry. I would certainly like enough sway so that books from companies like Marvel, I’m thinking of well liked and original books like She-Hulk and Warlock, don’t face cancellation and/or unnecessary “re-launches.” I haven’t seen the numbers for small press books like Street Angel and Scott Pilgrim but I like to think the good word and contests those books got from the blogosphere helped them out. An important thing about blogs is that we can raise public consciousness about smaller books, not unlike how political blogs can raise the public consciousness about news stories that CNN or the New York Times would probably skip over. So let’s raise the stakes and make Marvel and DC, those who are really controlling the Direct Market, listen to us.
If that is going to happen it will have to be because we bloggers have done some real effort to get ourselves heard. To be honest I don’t know how that could be done or at least I don’t know yet. Perhaps more presence on message boards could do something but I don’t feel those places are the best sources for intelligent discussion on comics. Showing up more in the comic press more could be something, but even then I don’t know if that reaches as many people as it would take to make some real change. A “blogger’s corner” in Previews perhaps? I’d like it but I’m not holding my breath.
All those examples are just off the top of my heads. If anybody can think of more please do not be afraid to share them. Even better, do not be afraid to practice them if you can. If I can let myself sound cheesy for a second: change starts with you!
In other news:
The Onion interviews Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez (link found at Fanboy Rampage). They are two of my favorites, no question. I finished Palomar and wrote about my favorite part of it here. I’m right in the middle of Locas and it’s an enriching experience. I think it’s rare that we’ll see talents like those two for a long time and I’m happy that we can read their work now.
The DC solicits are out for April and there isn't much out there to catch my interest (the books I like get cancelled, remember?) I do have one thing to say about a particular book: fuck yeah.
Finally and most importantly, Chris Butcher writes about auctions put on by Dave Sim and Jeff Smith to benefit the Tsunami relief effort (more info here). A lot of great stuff is there and it’s all for a good cause.
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Monday, January 17, 2005
I Belong to the Blank Generation
Before we get to the essay I would like to point you in the direction of Comic Book Galaxy's Street Angel contest. I think it's great idea because it doesn't just give the comics away to a contestant, it also gives the comic to that contestant's comic shop. I think that's a great way to spread the word about the book. Now, on to the complaining!
Every adult who reads superhero comics at one point must think to themselves why they read superhero comics in the first place, considering that others their age have moved on to other forms of entertainment. There are many conclusions one can come to. Mine are that I like art and imagination. I enjoy the legacy of comic strip and book art that started with Roy Crane, Milt Caniff, Hal Foster and others. The torch was carried on into comic books by greats like Jack Kirby, Wallace Wood and Gil Kane. I feel there are some great artists making books right now like Pascal Ferry and Carlos Pacheco. I enjoy the imagination that an artist can communicate to readers or if a smart writer like Grant Morrison and Alan Moore works well with an artist like Frank Quietly or J.H. Willaims III to realize an imaginative story.
It is for those reasons that I just cannot write-off superheroes books entirely. Unfortunately I feel that Marvel and DC have written-off me.
Those two companies have centered a good portion of their superhero books around nostalgia for an era of comics I was not around for. For people in their later-twenties and thirties DC and Marvel have got your number. Chris Claremont has what now seems like a permanent chair on Marvel’s mutant books. The world he created for those characters may seem tired and weary but it is the the only game in town. DC is enjoying looking back with their books as well. Green Lantern: Rebirth, Identity Crisis and no doubt this upcoming 20th Anniversary of Crisis on Infinite Earths event reward readers who have read and memorized all of the stories of these characters but they mean nothing to anybody else, certainly not for those who were born to early to read the original books when they came out. There’s nothing wrong with being someone who is so knowledgeable about these situations and find a thrill in seeing them revisited. It is just that anyone who is not as invested in the history of a classic JLA line-up or a long forgotten X-Man is left wondering “did I get here late?”
These books are serious about their subject matters. They act like the stakes are high, that they have something important to say. Why else are they “long-awaited” and “earth-shattering?” In the end, though, these stories have no meaning outside of taking a darker or complex look at a character that was originally created to entertain children. Some may see childrens entertainment as degrading for these superheroes. I would put forth that it is a much more agreeable way to tell stories than to pile on the impenetrable references and situations that only create drama if you can remember the whole history of Green Arrow or Kitty Pryde off the top of your head. It is as if these books have no problem that they are running in circles. Certainly the long-time fans do not care, even if it means that anyone younger (or just anyone unfamiliar with continuity) that shows a little interest in a book feels like they need a guidebook.
Creators themselves have spoken on such matters. At “The Panel” on silverbulletcomicbooks.com Devin Grayson (whose comics aren’t good but statements sometimes are) shares this information about working at DC:
Over the past few years there has been a dramatic and noticeable shift in the majority of monthly books towards broadly reaching continuity inclusion... this is great for the fan boy, and completely alienating for the neophyte. The last editorial memo I got from DC included references to events from both Zero Hour and Crisis - *I* can barely get my brain around *that*, forget about the novice reader!
Warren Ellis certainly knows what it is like in the trenches at both companies has this observation:
In the commercial Marvel/DC axis, triggering conversation is often just a matter of cleverly manipulating the characters that that longtime hardcore audience grew up with.
It is harder to get those of us who did not grow up with those characters to react so it seems like Marvel and DC have given up trying at all. No doubt there are great things that can be done with pre-established continuities. Tom Stoppard proved that with Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead and Frank Miller condensed half a century of Batman mythos into the landmark Drank Knights Return. It is when creators take the easy way out and create stories that depend on an audience’s knowledge of trivia while crafting a story that most people will find impossible to relate to is where the problem is.
DC and Marvel offer a few alternatives but their flagship books are now being tailored to an audience that is small but loyal. Can you imagine a more likely decision made by companies that are renowned for a lack of long-term vision? People around my age (I am 21) have absolutely no reason to go for the books that make DC and Marvel’s name. The problem is not that they are decades old characters. The problem is that they are written like decades old characters.
It is most distressing when a book I like ends up in “fanboy territory.” I enjoyed the first issue of Adam Strange by Andy Diggle and the aforementioned Ferry. I couldn’t afford to pick up the series month after month but chose to wait for the trade. Now I find out that is setting up for some DC crossover that will lead into this Crisis Anniversary (second item down). All I wanted was some fun adventures of a guy in a jetpack. Pacheco is doing art for the current arc of Superman/Batman, which Mike Sterling has alerted us is unfriendly to those not well versed on the DCU, only to follow it up with the new Green Lantern book, written by Geoff Johns who is writing Green Lantern: Rebirth. I am willing to pay for their books but DC and Marvel repel me. I am not the demographic they are going for so why create superhero books I would be interested in? DC at least does have alternatives in their Vertigo and Wildstorm lines (and I have my own quarrels about their alternatives) but with Marvel it is all about turning around old properties. When I want books that are not of the superhero genre, which is more often than not these days, I have better places to go than The Big Two. For superhero books that are far scarcer choices.
When I want my superhero fix I find myself reading the original stories of these characters, stories older than myself and those Marvel and DC are trying to seduce, more than I read the current ones. The Broome/Kane Green Lantern and Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four had no real continuities then, almost everything was brand new. Creators had to be a lot more creative and in these cases they were. The stories are not meant to be taken seriously but instead provide fun combined with excellent craftsmanship. “Superheroes are fine as long as they know their place” according to Alan Moore. At Marvel and DC, who have such a corner on the market they have copyrighted the name superhero, they feel that place is to give a rush to select few while everyone else is left out. How about instead of that, why not come up with stories that can entertain anyone no matter what their knowledge of the characters are?
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Thursday, January 13, 2005
Busy Bee
With the school year starting and the fact that I'm moving posting here might be fewer and farther between than usual. Don't lose any sleep over it, I know I'm not going to.
Since I'm posting here I might as well share something with you. How about this? Borat starts a riot!
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Tuesday, January 11, 2005
News Flash: Big Company Acts Dumb, Fan Complains About It
Tom Spurgeon links to Evan Dorkin writing about the forthcoming Bizarro World getting the G-rated treatment from DC. To me this spotlights better than any other comic what DC's problems are.
I liked a few of the stories in the original Bizarro Comics but there was a distinct "half-in/half-out" feeling to the book. Many pages were devoted to a framing sequences explaining how none of these stories are in continuity, no doubt put in to soothe the fears of obsessive DC fans who would are of course reading a book with Ellen Forney and Brian Ralph in it. Most noticeable is that all but one of the stories feature a separate writer and artist on them (the exception being the Kyle Baker piece "Letitia Lerner, Superman's Babysitter and there's a whole other story to that comic). This is different from how all the alternative cartoonists in the book usually work but is the status quo for the "assembly line" world of monthly corporate comics.
There is precisely where I feel DC overall is. They will put out books that offer more personality and substance to there usual superhero fare but the groupthink of Time Warner's offices will somehow find its way to enter the situation and damage a promising project, if it doesn’t destroy it before altogether before the public has a chance to see it. DC has editors like Karen Berger who, with the Vertigo imprint, publish excellent and interesting work like Paul Pope's 100%, Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s Preacher as well as the forthcoming Gilbert Hernandez original graphic novel Sloth and The Quitter by Harvey Pekar and Dean Haspiel. On the other hand if Evan Dorkin and Mike Allred have a Metal Men mini-series in the works it gets rejected, even when they have previously said they have accepted it. Kyle Baker’s Plastic Man is celebrated by seemingly all those who read it but DC doesn’t see any reason to push it in either the direct market or the all-ages market that books like Teen Titans Go fall under. It’s no surprise to any one here on the comics blogosphere but the vast majority of DC’s books are for people old enough to remember buying Crisis on Infinite Earths off of the stands and those who desire something else, even though DC has the resources to give us so much more, are left with a few crumbs of works that are devoted to originality and sophistication.
Books that don’t even have DC’s logo on it are under a type of scrutiny that is strictly “don’t rock the boat.” From Alan Moore’s interview in The Extraordinary Work of Alan Moore, where the writer who has made so much money for DC speaks on the specter of censorship his ABC books face:
I’m mean I’m nearly 50. I really think that I should by this age be allowed to go to bed whenever I want. I should be allowed to leave my dinner if I want. I think I should be allowed to write what I want without getting some parent figure coming and scolding me about it. If that’s the best that American comics industry can offer, then, like I say, it’s not good enough for me.
Cartoonists like Haspiel, Hernandez and Dorkin already have outlets for their work where they are free to create and communicate what they want however they want to do it. But Haspiel publisher Alternative Comics faces severe financial troubles (fellow indy publisher HighWater Books is already gone). Fantagraphics Books was also in dire straights but fortunately books like The Complete Peanuts have remedied that situation. It’s no wonder that so many alternative comics creators make most of their income off of illustration work or other jobs that have nothing to do with comics or creativity at all.
DC offers these talents a chance to create their comics with much more financial security than they would otherwise see. The company just cannot let its pulp roots and go and take the hands-off approach that these creators, and in fact all creators, deserve. At least with Marvel you know you’re getting something that has been through a thousand pairs of eyes before it’s calculated to appear in the stores and there is no effort to appear like a company interested groundbreaking books (granted I am assuming most of the people paying to attention to Marvel’s hyperbolic press statements do not take them seriously). There is a type of honesty there, if nothing else.
If, as there comic book covers trumpeted more than a decade ago, DC comics are not just for kids why don’t they treat their creators like adults?
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Monday, January 10, 2005
The Fabulous Baker Sketch
Here's a cool thing on eBay. Rich Johnston is auctioning off an original colorized sketch by Kyle Baker. Baker is, as far as I'm concerned, one of the best living cartoonists and is currently writing and drawing one of the best superhero comics out today, Plastic Man. Johnston's got a baby on the way so you know the money here is for a good cause.
There's a neat little story to this sketch. It was Baker's sign of gratitude because Johnston supplied the cartoonist with a copy of Elseworlds 80-Page Giant. You might remember that was the comic that DC President Paul Levitz had pulped so even the talent involved like Baker didn't get a copy. People in Britain did get a few so Johnston was good enough to send a copy to Baker. The sektch is a parody of Action Comics #1 featuring a baby Clark Kent, the star of Baker's Elseworlds story (which eventually found its way into Bizarro Comics), with Levitz running away in the foreground. I think it's a cute joke at the expense of Levitz's bizarre and distressing habit of censoring DC content (see also: Cobweb and The Authority). It's like he's the opposite of the CBLDF! Oh wait...
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"Human Diastrophism"
Let us continue with the series of close looks at my favorite books. This is the graphic novel that, as part of the Poison River trade, remains the first Love & Rockets work I have ever read. It’s a doozy of an introduction.
Gilbert Hernandez, along with his brother Jaime, have taken the tropes of romance comics and brought them along to mean something more. Instead of just going along with the exploits of some maudlin drama queens, however entertaining that might be, the stories Hernandez weaves about the South American town of Palomar are the rare but wonderful comics that force us to think differently of ourselves and our world. “Human Diastrophism” is the culmination of all that came before it with its wide cast of characters, each one as unique and fascinating as the next. Since Hernandez’s stories of Palomar took a leap in time after this story “Diastrophism” is a last hurrah in way. It has a message which cannot be ignored, either for what it is or for how it is presented.
The most wonderful thing about Hernandez’s comics is the excellent realization of Palomar. Every character in the book is as complex and interesting as real humans. The stories arise out of the townspeople’s foibles and follies, from the serious to the humorous. Hernandez creates this beautiful Latin American township with his textural backgrounds and humans with their Dan DeCarlo by way of Hank Ketcham look. The history of Palomar has been created over the years with these characters and when they are experienced as one long read as they are in the book Palomar it’s quite an experience. Every single truth about the human experience can probably be concluded within the world Hernandez has made.
“Diastrophism” is a story about change happening to a closely-knit community and various members of that community’s reaction to it. Hernandez makes a point of the tragedy that springs from when members of the community decide to labor over the trivial when real change, and sometimes real danger, is happening. One of the biggest happenings of the book is that a serial killer has struck in Palomar. Not unlike Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s From Hell, Hernandez decides to make the killer’s identity clear. This way the story doesn’t become a simple whodunit, the concept of this criminal is used to say something about the characters in the book. Many citizens suspect that the murder is part of the archeological team that has come to Palomar’s area. That’s only half-right. Killer Tomaso is a member of the team that was actually born and raised in Palomar. The townspeople are quick to blame outside forces when they need something to blame but so many of the time these people don’t realize that many of their problems originate from inside themselves.
That ignorance proves to change many of the characters and the community forever. “Diastrophism” is when we see younger members of the community begin to realize their own individuality. Town gossips Carmen and Pipo are obsessed with the young babosa saleswoman Tonantzin finding a political conciseness. Humberto is becoming an artist much to the dissatisfaction of Sherrif Chelo. What would scandalize Palomar the most, if they ever knew, would be that Luba’s eldest daughter Maricela has a budding lesbian relationship with another girl in town.
Maricela’s relationship with her mother is already pretty bad. Hernandez can create wonderfully complex characters better than almost all current creators and there’s no better example than Luba. She is a woman who makes no apologies when it comes to her mind, her body or the fact that she is a single mother with daughters from different men. In many ways she is an inspiration but she is not without human failings. We find that she is prone to horrific acts of physical abuse against her daughters. Luba represents both the new guard and the old guard of Palomar. She is disapproved by many but still comes down hard on those she doesn’t approve of.
As Humberto progresses as an artist we find that he is the one takes the most notice of the murders that are happening in town. All the while Chelo and others are stumped at who to bring to justice. We find that it is the artist himself who allows him to see more truth than the rest of Palomar.
One of the few who are asking questions of society is jailhouse resident Pecueca, who is sending letter out to Tonantzin. Pecueca might talk a good game but his ego and smarminess, not to mention his futile infatuation with Tontatzin, makes him more of a huckster than a revolutionary. He does not seek to challenge himself, just the society that has jailed him. Tontatzin’s seeks no reason to question Pecueca either and follows him along. She might be the object of Palomar’s obsession but her own obsession no healthier. It produces the saddest of all conclusions in the story.
Luba’s daughter Guadalupe might be the most sensible one of the story, the one who is not even asking questions but is simply seeking for things to go right for her family and her town. She doesn’t waste her time accusing or being suspicious of anybody. It’s because of her age, she is Luba’s second oldest as in grade school, that she doesn’t hold much power and unfortunately does sway anybody to her way of thinking. Guadalupe’s father and Carmen’s husband Heraclio is probably the most intelligent member of society but never uses those gifts for much outside of encouraging Humberto’s art. He takes little action against Carmen and Pipo’s scheming and can never get past a sense of arrogance he has to do much action.
Villagers of Palomar are more concerned with the monkeys that have gathered in town, and captured the imagination of Luba’s daughter Casimira, than the killer in their very midst. One horrific scene has mob rule in all its glory bashing the monkeys’ brains in the middle town for all to see. It’s an easy thing for the townspeople to target on and do something about. The monkeys are clearly alien and therefore are a nuisance, right? Hernandez tells us that just because a problem is the most visible doesn’t make the most urgent. The villagers’ monkey-bashing is a way for them to get out their neuroses about Palomar being invaded or destroy, and one that leads to a tragedy for both Casimira and Sherrif Chelo. For the people to ask themselves if they are the ones destroying Palomar would be a lot harder to do.
At the end of “Diastrophism” Palomar realizes that change has occurred, the most obvious being the loss of life due to Tomaso as well as Tontatzin’s suicide. Some citizens realize that they have been wrong, need to be humble and admit it’s time to change. Luba reveals the fathers of all her daughters but still bears no shame in having this family, nor should she. Maricela leaves town for the United States, knowing that Palomar has a long way until they accept someone like her. The biggest change for Palomar has to be the fact Luba takes over as mayor, the previous a victim of Tomaso. When a lover tells Luba that it is her “huge whopping jugs of yours running this town” it is an observation about the fact that she is an object for so many in Palomar to gossip and obsess about. Luba, with encouragement from Chelo, turns this into real power and proves she will not be told what to do because of somebody else’s image of her. It is a sign for the better for Palomar because it a sign of empowerment for others to embrace freedom from deadly groupthink. It’s just that the people of Palomar, even when later on when many of them they leave for the U.S., still have a long way to go.
Permanent Link: 8:54 AM |
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Thursday, January 06, 2005
I Try To Be Faith Popcorn
We have all seen the pirate trend come and go. We have all seen the zombie trend come and go. A bunch of comics come out, some of them good but most not so good. All the while cosplay folk tried to keep up.
I predict, with the notoriety of comics like Street Angel and Tramps Like Us, homeless-chic will soon be on the rise. More and more comics from companies you've never heard of before will show up with one crazy hobo after another in some wacky hobo adventure. If you're going to San Diego this year don't be surprised to see a few young people with bindles and an obvious Red Skelton-fetish.
Or I could be wrong and something else become the big trend. Maybe aviators.
Permanent Link: 10:13 PM |
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Wednesday, January 05, 2005
The Greatest Meeting of All!
In my comments section for this post there's an argument over what is the greatest comic book cover of all time.
All I have to say is we have a new king.
Permanent Link: 8:43 PM |
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Tuesday, January 04, 2005
His spirit is alive
This is hardly the best way to kick off the year, is it?
I’ve enjoyed reading the memorials for Will Eisner that so many have posted on-line. I’ve especially enjoyed the ones that are really personal like Mark Evanier’s and Johnny B’s. We are all writing about the same man, but they are stories only we can tell. Here is my story of Mr. Eisner.
For the longest time The Spirit felt like a great secret that everybody knew but me. The archive editions were too expensive for me to get and the back issues of reprints by Warren and Kitchen Sink were not the easiest books to find. Will Eisner was a man I know I was supposed to respect and admire but I didn’t know why.
That changed when looking through the rather poor comics and graphic novels section of my library I picked up what was one of the few quality selections, The Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics. Here were reprints of books created before my father was born that lay the groundwork for so much of the works I enjoy now. Besides the origins of such well known corporate properties like Batman and Superman there was important works by Harvey Kurtzman, Bernie Krigstein, Walt Kelly, Carl Barks and so many more. I enjoyed them all even though something was bugging me. I was currently enjoying comics, many of the superhero variety, that were much more sophisticated than the kinds found here. Sure, I knew the simple superhero timeline learned from countless price guides. The Golden Age was when most of these ideas came about; the Silver Age was when they were getting perfected and the Modern Age was when they get more serious and, in my estimation at the time, better. I still couldn’t figure out where those two godheads of 1986, Alan Moore and Frank Miller, got the ideas to do something really smart with these superhero comics.
That’s when I got to the near-end of the book, the part that reprinted Will Eisner’s The Spirit. These comics were just as meaningful to me as Miller’s and Moore’s were, and they had the nice air of legendary to them to boot. One strip from 1941, when Eisner was just beginning to unleash his gifts before the draft interrupted him, and then two more strips, one from 1947 and another from 1948, when those gifts came on full force. These read better than any of the other Golden Age superhero books I had read. The artwork was as bold and characteristic as the noir films of the same time. Eisner was one of the first Americans who created a comic book page that was alive, that was truly impressive and a sight to behold. Those splash pages set the mood in a different and wonderful way every week. Characters lived in an urban world that breathed and lived as much as the characters themselves did. It was an environment that had no trouble expanding past the comic pages it was printed on. It delved into the minds of the readers who knew that we were getting a quick glimpse at a place that was always hustling and bustling, regardless of what hour it was or what comic book story it was depicting. The writing popped and crackled loudly and briskly before writers like Stan Lee and John Broome would begin make stimulating stories decades into the future.
And those stories! The tamest of the trio, the strip from 1941, featured a man who condensed time into liquid. This was an incredible imagination in action while Jack Kirby was still learning his craft in the Eisner-Iger shop. The second story of Gerhard Schnobble, the man who could fly, used that imagination of Eisner’s (and at this point Jules Feiffer’s as well) to make the fantastic poignant, tragic and impossibly memorable. It was that last story, “Ten Minutes,” that proved to me Will Eisner was one of the greatest the comic medium will ever see. We get all of these elements better than ever in just that small amount of pages. Life, death and the neurosis they embark on us all were given to millions who opened their paper on that Sunday, September 11. For creating works like that we will always remember and cherish Will Eisner. Works we always enjoy like The Spirit, A Contract with God, Comics & Sequential Art, one of the earliest and greatest deconstructions of the medium, and so much more.
Even if some dared to forget what Eisner gave to us they couldn’t. The man taught so many to look at comics in a different way, a way that challenged them and made them create works better than they would have anyway. For that we can only thank him for the years he spent providing us with so much.
Permanent Link: 4:23 PM |
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Monday, January 03, 2005
Abraxas and the Earthman
Over this year I plan to go in depth into works by cartoonists that I very much enjoy. A bit like what I did with the Howard Chaykin series but with all kinds of work by all kinds of people. Today let’s look at the Abraxas and the Earthman serial that appeared in Epic Illustrated. It’s one of the best works by one of my favorite comic book artists, Rick Veitch.
The skeleton of the story is an interpretation of Melville’s Moby Dick. It concerns a Captain Rotwang’s mad obsession over hunting a whale, the Abraxas of the title. It just happens that Rotwang is just one of the many weird alien creatures that populate the book and Abraxas is just one of the many flying space whales that hover over the planet the book takes place on. Rotwang is just one part of the story. The main character of the book is one of the two earthmen abducted by Rotwang, John Isaac. It seems Isaac has had all his skin removed by Xlexu Surgeons, giant and super-smart praying mantises, so that it can be replaced by an invisible aura that will help Rotwang catch Abraxas. The other earthman is the captain of the submarine scientist Isaac was on, Falco. He gets decapitated so his body can mechanically load coal into the ship’s engine. His head is still around and sentient but it spends most of its time getting thrown around. All this plus a sphinx woman and giant shmoo-like groupies. This serial certainly feels like Veitch is pulling out every last piece of his imagination into it. It’s what makes it one of his best works.
It’s Veitch’s celebration of his own grotesque creations that remains the most memorable part of the book. I have always felt that Veitch’s artwork has on off-kilter feel to it. It often times looks like one part Jack Kirby and one part Tijuana Bible. It might be a turn-off to some but since Veitch’s work like this, Brat Pack and The One seem to work well with his weird style I’ve enjoyed it. Abraxas, with its protagonist that has no skin and aliens that are weirder than the next, takes the most advantage of this bizarre style. This mix of the gross and the psychedelic benefits what this story gets at. Isaac refuses to go along with Rotwang’s plan to slaughter whales and instead uses his heightened sense of aura to become one with Abraxas and soon the entire universe.
It’s that mysticism that ultimately defines Abraxas. Captain Rotwang is the Ahab whose mania over this whale drives other to around him to their death and himself into further insanity. It is because of the Xlexu Surgeon’s modifications to him that Isaac sees a way out of the simple world of Rotwang’s (and the military man Falco’s). Rotwang lives a life that is defined by opposing or dominating one thing or another be those things hunting whales or commanding men. It’s view of life that man in the world, certainly the Western world, subscribes to. Isaac can now see a way out of a life of constant conflict because he is now in touch with the pain of Abraxas and the other whales Rotwang hunts down. Abraxas and the Earthmen, like Veitch’s Cold War story The One, is about finding a better way out of the us v. them or left v. right dichotomy. It doesn’t take the stand that Isaac and others should go up against Rotwang. If that would happen then they would all be part of the same vicious cycle of aggression. “To fight the empire is to be infected by its derangement” as old Phil Dick would have us know. It seems clear that Veitch would agree with this.
Even though Veitch owns Abraxas there doesn’t seem to be any plans to reprint it in trade paperback form. You can hunt down the issues of Epic Illustrated it appeared in (10 through 17) or see if you can download it through Bit Torrent. It’s worth the hunt as it is like few other stories you will read.
Permanent Link: 6:20 PM |
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In the Shadow of No Content
Hopefully I'll have thoughts to share with you later on. For right now here's some links.
Abhay Khosla, who kicked all kinds of ass on "Title Bout" and the Pop Culture Bored, has a look at Naoki
Urasawa. Not up on my scanlations so I can't say I'm familiar with the man's work, but it's always a joy to read something by Abhay.
Hey remember that Art Spiegelman interview over at The Onion? Now interviewer Tasha Robinson has posted the "deleted scenes" on her Livejournal. More Spiegelman for no money at all! Can't beat those prices.
Permanent Link: 2:32 PM |
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Saturday, January 01, 2005
Once in a Blue Moon
You thought the year end wrap-ups were over, didn't you? Well, here's one more. Seems the folks at Gone & Forgotten decided to collect all their odds and ends or "scraps" from 2004 on one page. The site barley ever updates and a lot of these posts might be new to you (they all were to me) so it might be worth checking out.
My favorites is the revelation of The Greatest Comic Book Cover of All Time. And it is.
Permanent Link: 11:38 PM |
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